Nextcloud
Files, calendar, contacts and office tools in one self hosted suite
Nextcloud is a self hosted alternative to Google Drive and its neighbours: file sync, sharing, calendar, contacts and a large app catalogue. It is AGPL-3.0, widely deployed, and the most complete suite in this list, which is both its strength and its cost.
Best for when
- you want to replace cloud files, calendar and contacts in one go
- you share files with people who do not have an account
- you run services for a family or a small team
Watch out for
- it needs tuning to feel fast, and the admin warnings are part of the job
- every extra app adds update risk and attack surface
- major version upgrades must be done one at a time and can break apps
The everything app
Desktop and mobile clients sync your files, links let you share them with people who have no account, and CalDAV and CardDAV keep calendars and contacts in sync with any phone. Apps add notes, tasks, office editing, video calls and much more.
If you want one place to replace several cloud services for a family or a small team, it is the obvious candidate, and its long history means most problems have a forum answer already.
The weight of it
It is a PHP application with a database, a cache and background jobs, and it rewards tuning. Out of the box it can feel slow, and the admin panel will list warnings you need to work through. Updates should be done one major version at a time.
Every app you enable adds attack surface and update risk. Install the few you need, keep it private where possible, and back up both the data folder and the database together so they match.
